Wow. You know when you read something that just speaks to your soul; when someone puts on the page the exact thoughts and feelings you’ve had yourself and makes you feel like you’re not alone in the mistakes you’ve made and hard times you’ve experienced? Well this is one of those. If you’ve ever been through heartbreak, doubted yourself or a relationship, struggled to find yourself after what seems like irreparable damage – you need to read this. When Megan at Debatable Dateable first contacted me to offer me the chance of reviewing Cracked Open, I was hesitant as I’d never read a book of poetry before and wasn’t sure I would do it justice. How glad am I I chose to take the plunge and give it a go though! This is a book I know I will return to again and again throughout my journey to find…

What makes for good first date conversation aside from the usual work/school/family prattle?

DD:You want to keep a first date light and although talking about tv show and movies may seem silly you can learn a lot about a person’s immaturity level and sense of humor by what they put on their screens. You can also find common ground by talking about shows, actors, and current events in entertainment.

Family is usually a common topic as mentioned in the question, but friends are also important to talk about. You want to know the type of people your date surrounds themselves with. You can also learn the role they play in a friend group such as jokester, planner, or the one everyone goes to for advice; its good to see how other people view and value your date and you might appreciate them more by learning so.

When you start talking about friends you also learn what your date does with their free time. Do they go to bars every weekend, trips to a nearby city or concert, or a laidback game night at a friend’s house? This helps you figure out if you like to do the same things and also gives you ideas for future dates if you do.

A common topic for early dates is talking about travels, they’re exciting and unique from day to day life. There seems to be a trend for millenials to be travel bugs so daters can usually find common ground there.

Topics to stay away from:

Past Relationships. Don’t be the idiot who talks about his ex and all the things he hated about her or the rude girl who talks about all the other dates she had this month. You both know you’ve dated other people but they aren’t here so stop bringing them up!

Dating Pet Peeves. If you start ranting about things you hate about dating profiles you’re going to seem picky and negative. You can also potentially insult your date. Sure, you won’t want to date someone who annoys you but you should find out the reasoning of why something might be on their profile before ruling them out.

Dark Past and Politics. It would of course be important for your significant other to learn about past experiences that have shaped you even if they aren’t happy memories but the first date is not the time to go into details. Controversial topics like politics and religion are also conversations that should be saved for a later date once you already feel comfortable with someone. Remember, light and fun is the name of the game in the beginning!